Goulburn Broken CMA project officer Janice Mentiplay-Smith said the wrinkled toadlet was endangered in Victoria and was uncommon in the Goulburn Broken catchment, so the recent discovery of the frog in the catchment’s east was a rare occurrence.
“This small, stout frog, with its distinctive orange-red markings on its thighs and groin, is living at the southern edge of its range here in the Goulburn Broken catchment and is more widely distributed throughout NSW and into Queensland,” Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.
“It’s a rare resident of the Goulburn Broken catchment and there are very few records of it in Victoria.
“The wrinkled toadlet generally lives in flood-prone gullies, gilgais (shallow depressions that form in clay soils) and similar environments — awaiting inundation — but there are always exceptions, and this wrinkled toadlet was found safely ensconced beneath a ceramic roof tile that was placed in a rocky area, as a form of artificial habitat.”
Ms Mentiplay-Smith said the ground beneath the tile would have been cool and damp — a micro-environment irresistible to a variety of insects favoured by wrinkled toadlets.
“Old ceramic roof tiles — I like to call them ‘rep-tiles’ — make fantastic artificial habitat,” she said.
“If you lay a few on the ground close to some form of natural habitat, they act as protective refuges for many types of critters.
“Normally reptiles such as legless lizards, small snakes and skinks will use a rep-tile, however unsurprisingly, they also provide great places for frogs, such as this little wrinkled toadlet.
“Rep-tiles are a tried and true method of discovering what ground-dwelling critters live on your property; however as you never know what is beneath them, lift them up with care by tilting the tile back towards you.
“This way any critter sheltering underneath, and one that you may not wish to have a close encounter with, can escape away from you in the opposite direction.”
Healthy, un-ploughed ground containing tussocky vegetation and an assortment of logs and branches would also appeal to a variety of frogs, lizards, insects and woodland birds, she said.
During breeding season, the wrinkled toadlet relies upon healthy, undisturbed grasslands that are subject to inundation. Single eggs are laid on submerged vegetation. Tadpoles will occupy the bottom of the water body for safety, taking around two months to develop into frogs.
The wrinkled toadlet is the latest frog to feature in the Goulburn Broken CMA’s Year of the Frog awareness campaign.
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